Wow. As I write this, it is almost 11 PM on the east coast and I cannot even process all of my emotions. I'm not one of those who took this man's campaign lightly. Like most others, I joked a year ago about the possibility of him actually winning office, and that was way before any of the super shocking and awful facts about him surfaced. But I was never of the mind that it would be a landslide loss for him. Two things made me realize how dangerous this man's pull was. The first was BP, who is whiter than white, trying to reason why he wouldn't be such a bad president because he's supposedly good with money. I reminded her he'd filed for bankruptcy more than once and, oh by the way, he's racist (this convo was after his comments on Mexicans). This got me thinking there would probably be a lot of white folks who felt similarly to BP. The second convo that hammered home the danger was one in which my mother made a comment about how there would be many people who would vote for him because they secretly agreed with his most egregious campaign promises; deporting Mexicans, keeping out all immigrants, letting any and everyone who wants to carry guns be allowed to have as many as they want. He said things that many people in this country think, as evidenced by the outcome of all this. I expected there would be fellow racists and sexists and rednecks who agreed with him. What I did not expect that is so many minorities would buy into his hate. I can't even wrap my head around that actually. How do you in good conscience vote for a man who has called you a name based solely on your skin color or ancestry? How do you look your children in the eye and explain to them that hate is the right path for the country? How do you believe that a man who would rather say, "Fuck you" if you don't agree with him, rather than listen to the country's issues and work towards resolution will make things better? And how is it that we've struggled for so many years and waged so many seemingly winning battles for equality, only to put a bigot, serial sex offender in office? Fuck, why not just vote for Jared from Subway if that's how ya'll feel about shit. This election was not about politics, it was about the divide that still exists in this nation, the divide that people said had magically disappeared once an African-American man took office. Of course, most of us knew that was not true at all, especially minorities who still live with racism and hate everyday. This man (and I will not use his name, nor ever refer to him as the president) could've raped someone live on Fox News and had it played on a continuous loop for two months and he still would have been considered a viable candidate, even with zero political experience. He's a liar, he's a racist, he's a misogynist and the people who voted for him are no better than him. For the first time in my 35 years, I'm genuinely ashamed to call myself an American.
This isn't a case of someone being bitter because their candidate didn't win, I want that made crystal clear. I didn't have a candidate to begin with. No one; not Hilary, not Bernie, not any third party candidate won me over. I voted for the lesser of the evils and, like many of us, recognized that while Hilary was not an ideal candidate, the man running against her was a terrible example of a human being. I voted for Hilary because I knew that I would not have to constantly worry about certain things for the next four years. I voted for her because I knew the alternative, now the reality, would be cataclysmic. And here we are. What a mess this election made of democracy. It turned what should be the most important part of government into a sideshow and the smoke and mirrors won out. I'm not bitter that my choice did not win. I'm terrified about who did win; terrified for my family and my freedom and the world in general. Anyone who isn't white should be terrified about this result, whether they voted for him or not (and shame on you if you're a minority who did). I've been Latino for my whole 35 years and I've been the parent of a bi-racial child for almost nine years now. And nothing gives you insight into how racially divided this country still is like having a child who is obviously mixed. You get looks, you get questions, questions people wouldn't dare ask someone with a kid who was not multi-racial. The same is true of being in an interracial relationship. I've been in those most of my life, but the hate L and I have experienced on a few occasions has been ridiculous. If that kinda shit happens now, in 2016 with a black man in the White House, what is it going to be like in a year's time? That's if our family is even allowed to be together in this country in that time. Hell, I could be sent back to Mexico and L deported back to London and MOC on a boat to Africa for all we fucking know. Those are things the white folks in this country don't have to worry about. That uncertainty is not present for them. That hate is not in their faces everyday.
This isn't a case of someone being bitter because their candidate didn't win, I want that made crystal clear. I didn't have a candidate to begin with. No one; not Hilary, not Bernie, not any third party candidate won me over. I voted for the lesser of the evils and, like many of us, recognized that while Hilary was not an ideal candidate, the man running against her was a terrible example of a human being. I voted for Hilary because I knew that I would not have to constantly worry about certain things for the next four years. I voted for her because I knew the alternative, now the reality, would be cataclysmic. And here we are. What a mess this election made of democracy. It turned what should be the most important part of government into a sideshow and the smoke and mirrors won out. I'm not bitter that my choice did not win. I'm terrified about who did win; terrified for my family and my freedom and the world in general. Anyone who isn't white should be terrified about this result, whether they voted for him or not (and shame on you if you're a minority who did). I've been Latino for my whole 35 years and I've been the parent of a bi-racial child for almost nine years now. And nothing gives you insight into how racially divided this country still is like having a child who is obviously mixed. You get looks, you get questions, questions people wouldn't dare ask someone with a kid who was not multi-racial. The same is true of being in an interracial relationship. I've been in those most of my life, but the hate L and I have experienced on a few occasions has been ridiculous. If that kinda shit happens now, in 2016 with a black man in the White House, what is it going to be like in a year's time? That's if our family is even allowed to be together in this country in that time. Hell, I could be sent back to Mexico and L deported back to London and MOC on a boat to Africa for all we fucking know. Those are things the white folks in this country don't have to worry about. That uncertainty is not present for them. That hate is not in their faces everyday.
I'd be offended if I were in the Armed Forces, having fought for the freedom of this country only to have the people I fought for spit in my face and vote to take away that freedom from certain citizens.
I'm not someone who can "pass" as white. I'm a mutt and I look like a mutt. Throughout my life, my ethnicity has been guessed as everything from Middle Eastern to South African. I'm a multiracial dude living in America and I've never been more worried about what ways my skin color will affect my future. I was born and raised in this country, but like any other person of color, or homosexual or transgender, I have never been afforded all of the opportunities of being an American. And now that gap will widen considerably. For the last eight years we progressed, not as much as we wanted to but it was still progress. Now one horrible person will peel back all that progress and the saddest part is that this country voted for it to happen. People knew his politics and his hate and they voted for that to represent their country to the world. The people who voted for him, whether they admit it or not, believe that I'm less of an American because I'm not white. They believe my daughter is less of an American because she's not white. They believe we're not entitled to the same freedoms and opportunities as white Americans. It's like we've been trying to climb up a ladder for decades and with one whack, we got knocked back down to the bottom. I'm disappointed that so many people believe the same shit as this man. I'm flabbergasted as to how someone with no political experience and clear evidence of crimes and misdeeds having been committed even made it onto the ballot, nevermind into the White House. Enjoy these last three months of freedom while we still recognize what freedom looks like. After he takes office, we're all royally fucked. Thanks, America.
